The Zodiac Spirit Guardians

The Crow of Death

I can't say I've never wished to be different. I do want to be different. Sometimes I wish I could have the bravery and confidence required to speak my honest mind and my honest feelings. But most of the time I'm content with shoving those emotions into a box, locking it, and throwing the box at whoever the feelings and thoughts were intended for, as if that were a proper response. Sometimes I just stare at the box, too confused to do anything about its existence.

I don't have a problem feeling that way.

"I'm sure he meant that pet name in a cute way, he's really charming like that." Dessy smiles sweetly, ignoring my indifference to emotions, as always. I only try to make myself appear indifferent when Dessy digs for an emotion out of me. It's like a game of hide and seek, except with my feelings. "Just you wait; he's probably in love with you or something. I'm still not sure how you got that lucky...are you doing charity work to gain good karma or something?" She starts doing that sunshiney thing with her voice and her cheerful eyes.

"How do you even know him?!" I roll my eyes and walk away from her out of hysteria.

"Tell me your secret!" She shouts, taking off after me.

My feet come to a screeching halt, and Dessy runs right into my back, "Ouch! Hey what's the holdup?" Her voice squeaks. I look back to her and attempt to tell her with my eyes. She rubs her nose and follows my gaze. "What're you looking at?" Her small head whips back and forth in my peripheral vision as she glances between my skeptical narrowed eyes and what they're staring at. "Are you kidding me?!" She groans and sighs heavily, "Honestly, you must be feeding the homeless and tutoring at-risk kids because your good karma is beyond reason." I can imagine her pouting like a twelve-year-old child right now. That thought makes me smile.

"Why aren't you saying anything? This is truly weird if you think about it..." She squeaks more. I barely see her hand waving in front of my face before I decide to say something.

"This should be entertaining." I stare blankly at the same delusional, green eyed boy from my last class, sitting in one of the chairs in my next class. "I wonder if that empty pen could be of use to me now..." I begin a plan of projectile motion towards Haruka's thick skull before Dessy says anything to deter me from that plan.

"I think it's your fate to be with him. If you're assigned to sit next to him again, that'll make it official." She pats me on the back, "Good luck! I'm rooting for you two!" She slips away as I stand motionless in the doorway, unable to move my feet. This will be the first class I have without her, and now I'm forced to encounter the green eyed monster again. I can't help the intrigue sprouting in my stomach, but I don't welcome that excitement. I guess he's kind of cute, actually really cute, but his attitude subtracts ten points. Now he's at a zero.

A boy's voice shouts something inaudible from behind me, and a moment after I turn my head to the direction I hear it, his body slams into mine, knocking me and everything I'm holding onto the floor, mixing in with his dropped papers and books. I somehow clumsily end up sprawled out on the floor on my back. The boy hovers closely over me with only inches between our bodies. The muscular arms that hold his body up are placed right next to either sides of my ears. His face is inches from mine.

Before I find the chance to escape forever, the other students overdramatically gasp and shout surprise reactions to this awkward display. The boy hovering over me smiles gently and sits back on his heels to stand up. I pick my stuff up off the floor, attempting to ignore the clamor of comments from the people around me. My calm, cool, and collected facade fractures. I anxiously bite the inside of my cheek. I'd really like to know why I've become a magnet for random and crazy interactions today.

The boy bends over and holds out his hand to me, "I'm sorry about that," he rubs the back of his head with the other hand, "I didn't see you there." He proceeds to give me a shy and innocent smile, his eyes even squint. I take his hand and stand up, brushing any dirt from the tile floor off my skirt. It's obvious that this boy is not a drone.